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DailyTech's roundup of hardware reviews from around the web for Wednesday

ASUS Eee PC 900
@ CNET
@ TechRadar
@ Trusted Reviews

CPU
Intel Xeon X3320 Overclocking @ TechReport

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 @ XbitLabs

Video
ASUS EN9600GT Top @ I4U
ECS GeForce 8800 GT @ OCC
ASUS EN9800 GTX 512MB @ TweakTown
ASUS 9800 GTX 512MB @ Virtual-Hideout
XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB @ EliteBastards
ATI FireGL V8600 1GB @ HotHardware

Cases
In-Win B-2 Stealth Bomber @ HardwareLogic

Audio
Creative EAX vs. ASUS DS3D GX 2.0 @ Techgage

PSU
Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W @ bit-tech
Gigabyte Odin Pro 1200w @ LegionHardware

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What I want from an ultraportable...
By daftrok on 4/16/2008 7:30:47 PM , Rating: 2
1) 11" screen (preferably LED). 11"(W) x 1"(H) x 8" (D) is the general size for an 11" screen laptop. It isn't that different from ASUS with 9" (W) x 1"(H) x 6.3" (D). 1024x600 is fine but I want a full sized keyboard and am willing to make my laptop have a slightly bigger footprint.

2) Windows XP or Linux Ubuntu option rather than just Linux: Tabbed Edition.

3) 4 hours of average battery life. (High capacity 6 cell battery).

4) One RAM slot for 1 GB RAM and make it open for users to upgrade it to 2 GB if they wanted.

5) Atom processors with the Z530 (1.6 GHz) and allowing us to upgrade to Z540 (1.86 GHz)

6) 1.8" 80 GB 5400 RPM HDD and allow us to upgrade to 160 GB. I'll wait for SSD to go down to $2 a GB. Until then I'll stick with 1.8".

7) GMA X3100 or (preferably) nVidia 7150m with HDMI out. When I'm at home I want to have one plug to stick into my TV for video and audio.

8) 802.11 b/g with Bluetooth 2.1, SDHC out, 3 USB ports, Gigabit ethernet out, 1.3 MP webcam with microphone, headphone and microphone port, expresscard slot (for cellphone wireless internet).

9) DVD burner

10) $600-$800 price tag.

Its a tall order to ask for and I feel that ASUS has delivered on most of what I want, but its still not quite there when it comes to affordable ultra portability. I feel ASUS EEE PC's are too much of a sacrifice and would rather have just one notebook, not a notebook and a PC or a notebook and a better notebook.




By Inspector Jihad on 4/16/2008 7:46:48 PM , Rating: 2
this isn't what asus is trying to do.


RE: What I want from an ultraportable...
By Omega215D on 4/16/2008 7:52:26 PM , Rating: 2
Sounds like the Sony TZ series: an 11.1" LED backlit screen, decent processor, pretty thin 1"+, option to run either an Intel GMA X3100 graphics chip or nVidia GeForce Go 8400GT since it comes with both and light weight and 5 -6 hour battery life.

The only problem is the pricing which runs about $1600 - $2200.

HP should start thinking about an 11" mini-note with a DVD-RW drive for us who don't want to pay the high prices of Sony.

Anyhow Asus is really listening to their customers so good on them.


By daftrok on 4/16/2008 8:15:47 PM , Rating: 2
See if Asus tries to open up competition in that realm it would be great. I just don't think the EEE PC as a viable ultra portable, especially when its 500 to 600 dollars. It just seems to pricey for what it is offering (as is the Sony TZ). But to be fair Asus isn't trying to take on those high end ultra portables and I guess for a casual computer user it's OK. I must be asking for too much.


RE: What I want from an ultraportable...
By masher2 (blog) on 4/16/2008 8:35:05 PM , Rating: 2
I'll take all the above, plus a butterfly keyboard and rollup OLED screen, so I can fold it up and put in my back pocket when not in use.

On sale, possibly around the year 2012.


By geekfool on 4/17/2008 5:13:39 AM , Rating: 2
And how much do you think that'll cost? Plus, if it's capable of rolling-up, why would you just settle for an 11"?


By DeepBlue1975 on 4/16/2008 8:36:08 PM , Rating: 2
1- I don't want bigger. In fact I would have bought the 700 if the 7" screen would have been matched to a 7" case instead of a 7" in a 9" casing.

2- 100% agreed. But you can always "format and reinstall" and put an nlited version of XP there.

3- 200% agreed

4- Agreed, but nowadays RAM is dirt cheap and you can always sell that which comes and refill it the way you want. No biggie for me.

5- Hell yeah, I'll defintely wait for the atom version to get one.

6- Not at all for me! The 20gbs SSD is fine for me and makes the machine significantly faster. I don't actually need big storage for an ultramobile, as I'll be using it for small office document reading and editing, and to carry some videos there to watch on the go (I already do so on my cell phone with only 4gbs of space).

7- You are best off using a real HTPC for that. This is a portable machine, its use is nowhere near an HTPC. Video gaming will always suck except for really old games (like the ones I like the most to play), so the vid card is a moot point taking this 2 things in consideration.

8 - Agreed with everything except "SDHC Out". That feature is a big plus for me and for many users on the go who will be transferring data to and from their cell phones, for example. The GB ethernet maybe is not that important to many, but for some a physical nic is a desirable thing.

9 - no way. A dvd burner would make a laptop this size much heavier and bulkier. You're better off connecting the EEE through the GBe to a PC with a DVD unit to copy the contents rapidly.

I have a huge PC on my desktop, a smart phone of the "really convergent type", a fully fledged 17" notebook and I could use the EEE to make things my cell phone can't on almost the same places I could use my cell phone but my 17" laptop would be way too uncomfortable to take.

When I go on hollydays to the beach (which my wife loves, but I don't like so much nowadays) I take the 17" laptop to use in the hotel but would definitely use an EEE to take right out to the beach, something I'd never do with the 17" one. (the place I usually go has 3g and wi-fi coverage).

Conclusion: Not everyone wants the same from an ultra portable, but judging by the sales volume of the first EEE, I'd rather think that ASUS did a pretty damn good job of understanding what most users of such a device would want to do with it.
So good a move it was that now there are at least 5 more manufacturers offering similar devices.


By aireth on 4/17/2008 12:29:26 AM , Rating: 2
Not sure what ultramobile means to most of you guys but 11" is definitely too big to be classified as one. I think a 7" screen is just nice if everything else is built for that size instead of the big bezel and speakers around the screen. And a DVD burner will definitely make it chunky.
Think HTC Shift with better specs will be perfect.


Waiting for Atom version
By psychobriggsy on 4/17/2008 6:13:09 AM , Rating: 2
I'll probably end up getting a future EeePC 900 series laptop, once they're Atomised (hopefully better battery life, don't care so much about a little bit of performance loss/gain) and the price has settled. The HP alternative is also appealing, maybe the next revision of that...

I'd also buy an EeePC 700 that came in a casing designed for a 7" display. I know the keyboard would be cramped, but it would be very portable. This would be an Atom+Paulsbo system, and might lose some features because of that.




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